The King Returns

  At dawn, Liu Ziguo walked out of Jiangbei City's train station. The dark sky was filled with twinkling stars, and the dim yellow light bulb above the exit cast his tall figure onto the square. Seeing a crowd of passengers rushing out, taxi drivers and hotel staff swarmed around like flies, but no one paid attention to him, dressed in worker attire. Only a few middle-aged men holding paper signs weakly called out to him: "X County, Y County long-distance bus, get on and leave."

  Liu Ziguang walked with big strides on the street illuminated by the streetlights, his heart filled with emotions. It had been eight years, and he was finally back home. He didn't know if his family was still there, or how his parents were doing - whether their hair had turned white, or how their bodies were holding up. As he thought about it, he couldn't help but quicken his pace.

  As Liu Ziguang walked to a distance from his home, he suddenly stopped and gazed at a sanitation worker on the street. It was an elderly woman with gray hair, wearing overalls and a sleeve cover, sweeping the road. The previous night must have been some kind of festival, as there were trash scattered all over the ground. She would occasionally bend down to pick up plastic bottles and discarded paper, stuffing them into a snakeskin bag. Her waist seemed not to be in good condition, making every bending motion quite difficult.

  Suddenly, a low cry sounded from behind: "Mom!" She stopped sorting the trash with her hands, shook her head and sighed, continuing to work busily. The voice rang out again, this time the old man no longer doubted his ears, slowly turning around, in the darkness stood a familiar figure, the old man dared not believe his eyes, tremblingly said: "Xiao Guang, is that you?"

  "It's me, son is back." Liu Ziguang rushed over, the long-term military career had already forged the former weak teenager into a hard man of iron and steel. For eight years, he had shed blood and sweat, but not a single tear, yet at this moment, hot tears burst forth, and the iron-like strong man cried like a child.

  The mother was also in tears, hugging Liu Ziguang and sobbing uncontrollably. The son who had been missing for eight years finally returned, and the hopeless days finally lit up with new hope. For eight years, she struggled to wait for this moment. The old man tightly hugged his son, afraid to let go, fearing that it was just a dream.

  His son was darker and thinner, but more robust than before. The old man finally smiled with relief as he felt the developed muscles on his son's arm: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

  It was unknown when the streetlights went out, and a red sun broke through the dawn, daylight had arrived.

  ……

  Liu Ziguang's home was located in the infamous "Gao Tupo" area of this city, a dirty and disorderly shantytown that had never been demolished due to various historical reasons. After helping his mother pull the cleaning cart back home, he found that the yard had changed a lot, with many families adding two or even three floors to their houses. This was because the area was about to be demolished, and adding floors could increase the compensation for the area, but his own house remained the same, with two low and humble bungalows and a small kitchen made of asbestos tiles outside.

  The door lock was opened, and a musty smell rushed in. The sunlight was blocked out, making the house naturally dark and damp. The furnishings inside were still the same as they had been eight years ago. Even my own bedroom, which was only three square meters in size, remained unchanged. On the bed lay a blue floral quilt cover, and under the bed were my leather shoes, spotlessly clean, clearly having been regularly polished.

  "Xiao Guang, are you hungry? Mom will cook for you right away." Mom said, opening the door of the coal stove and using tongs to replace a new piece of coal.

  "Mom, I'm not hungry, don't bother cooking, where's Dad?" Liu Ziguang asked.

  "Your father is still working the night shift at Zhicheng Garden nearby and hasn't come back yet, I almost forgot to remind him, hurry up and call his pager to get him to come home." Mom said.

  Mom picked up the phone and dialed for half a day, finally getting through. After a few "hellos" and two "uh-huhs", she hung up the phone, turned around, and her face was full of anxiety: "Your dad was beaten in class and is now being treated in the hospital's emergency room, what can we do?"

  Liu Ziguang calmly said: "Mom, don't panic, let's take the money to the hospital first, saving people is urgent."

  Mom took out a small bag made of artificial leather from the depths of the closet, took out a thin stack of money and two deposit slips, her eyes reddened again, nervously muttering: "But absolutely mustn't have an accident, our family really can't afford to be tossed about." As she spoke, her legs softened. Over the years, the old couple had relied on each other for survival, supporting each other through difficult days. If the old man collapsed, the pillar of this household would collapse too.

  A pair of strong hands held onto his mother.

  "Everything will be fine with me around, nothing bad will happen." The son's firm voice was like a shot of adrenaline for his mother. Yes, the son is back, what's there to fear? No matter how tough or difficult things get, he'll face it head-on.

  The mother packed a bundle of essentials for hospitalization, including a thermos, lunch box, chopsticks and spoons, and clothes to change into, and handed it over to her son to carry. The mother and son locked the door and took a taxi to the emergency department of the First Hospital in the city.

  Outside the emergency room, two middle-aged men wearing black security uniforms were smoking. Seeing Liu Ziguang and his mother approaching, they hastily came forward: "Sister, you're here."

  "Where is our family's old Liu?" his mother asked urgently.

  "Inside, the photos have been taken, just entered the emergency room, the company leader has also been notified, will be here soon, don't worry, sis......" Father's colleague threw away his cigarette butt and quickly accompanied mother into the emergency room, without asking who Liu Ziguang was.

  The door of the emergency rescue room was tightly closed, and doctors and nurses wearing masks were busy inside. The mother was afraid of delaying the doctor's treatment, standing at the door and not daring to enter. The father's colleague held an X-ray film and quietly introduced the situation.

  "Lao Liu was on duty from midnight to dawn, our community has two gates, for convenient management, one entrance and one exit. At more than 5 o'clock in the morning, a BMW car was blocked at the exit and insisted on entering. Lao Liu went up to persuade him, but unexpectedly that guy had drunk too much wine, kicked Lao Liu down with one foot, and even took out the steering wheel lock to hit Lao Liu's head and face. If we hadn't arrived in time, it wouldn't have been just a simple fracture of the arm."

  Hearing her own husband being bullied and beaten by others, the mother's tears came again: "Old Zhang, Old Li, thank you, how much money did you lend me, I'll pay it back to you."

  Old Zhang said, "Sister, don't say those unpleasant words. Old Liu was injured on duty, the company can reimburse him for that. Besides, we've already reported to the police, this time no matter what, he'll have to compensate us a few tens of thousands of yuan."

  "Where does the murderer live? What's his name?" Liu Ziguo suddenly interjected.

  Old Zhang looked at Liu Ziguang suspiciously: "What's this?"

  "This is my son," said the mother.

  "Ah," Old Zhang nodded and sighed, "That man is a big shot, driving in and out of the 16th building in his champagne gold BMW SUV. I don't know which specific household he lives in, but that guy isn't a good egg, him and his wife are quite fierce too. We usually avoid him when we see him, it's just Old Liu being stubborn, insisting on going against him, isn't this asking for trouble?"

  Liu Ziguang was burning with anger, his iron fists clenched with a loud crackling sound. He didn't blame Old Zhang and Old Li; these two security guards in their late 40s were also laid-off workers like his father, just trying to make a living, who dared to confront the local tyrant?

  "Mom, you stay here first, I'll be right back." Liu Ziguang said and turned around to leave.

  "Xiao Guang, where are you going? Come back quickly." By the time mother chased out, her son's figure had already disappeared.

  ……

  In the parking lot of Building 16, Zhi Cheng Garden, there were only a few cars parked, including a champagne-colored BMW X5 SUV, which was parked very domineeringly across two parking spaces.

  Liu Ziguang looked in through the car window from the driver's seat, and there was no one inside. A thick steering wheel lock was locked on the steering wheel, and strangely, there was a huge S logo in the center of the steering wheel. What kind of BMW off-road vehicle is this? It's obviously a dual-ring SCEO modified version.

  Liu Ziguang threw a punch, and instantly a deep dent appeared on the car door. The counterfeit BMW let out a sharp whistle, and the alarm sounded throughout the neighborhood.

  Liu Ziguang looked up and saw that no one was looking out from the 16th floor, so he punched again, causing the hood to deform and the alarm to sound once more. This time, a window finally opened on the upper floor, revealing a red, chubby face. Due to the angle, the person didn't see Liu Ziguang, so they simply pressed a button on their remote control, stopping the alarm. The chubby face then withdrew back into the room.

  Liu Ziguang took aim at the location of the house, went straight upstairs to the eighth floor and pressed the doorbell.

  Half a day passed without any movement inside, Liu Ziguang patiently rang the doorbell again. Finally, an angry shout came from inside: "Can't you let people sleep? What do you want?"

  Liu Ziguang said in Mandarin: "I'm from the property management company. Your neighbor has complained that your car is disturbing the peace..."

  The anti-theft door suddenly opened, and a furious fat man stood at the entrance, exuding alcohol all over his body, with an impatient face: "Is it over yet?"

  Liu Ziguang didn't say a word, grabbed the fatty's scalp and pulled him outwards with force, sending him flying into the corridor with a loud crash. The fatty's slippers flew up to the sky, and he crashed head-on into the wall, instantly covering his face in blood.

  Liu Ziguang took a step forward and stepped on the fat man's foot, coldly asking: "Was it you who injured the security guard at the entrance of the community?"

  "Who... who are you?" The fatty hadn't yet come to his senses, and Liu Ziguang didn't ask again. With a single kick, the fatty's right ankle bone shattered with a cracking sound, and a blood-curdling scream like that of a slaughtered pig echoed far and wide, lingering in Zhicheng Garden for a long time without dissipating.

  Liu Ziguang asked again: "Which hand did you use to hit him this morning?"

  Fatso finally came to his senses, realizing that the other party had come to take revenge. A good man doesn't eat in front of him, so he said: "Stop hitting me, how much money do you want?" At this time, Fatso no longer had the same spirit as before. His flower-patterned robe was open, and his fat belly was rolling with waves of flesh. His face was covered with snot, tears, and fresh blood, and his speech was also accompanied by a sobbing tone, looking as pitiful as possible.

  "Left hand or right hand?" Liu Ziguang asked with a gentle tone, as if he wasn't trying to break someone's arm, but rather guessing a riddle.

  "Murder! Help!" A robust woman rushed out of the house, her face full of wrinkles, her eye shadow pitch black, and her newly drawn eyebrows like two thin black worms crawling on her triangular eyes, looking vicious at first glance.

  The woman brandished her claws and pounced on Liu Ziguang, but he didn't even look at her. With a swift kick, he sent the fierce woman flying into the house. He continued to question Pangzi: "If you don't answer, I'll consider it two hands."

  "Right... no, it's the left hand, neither of them is, spare me." The fatty suddenly burst into loud wailing, shiny snot flowing into his mouth, a smoke-stained yellow tooth exposed in broad daylight, as disgusting as can be.

  Liu Ziguang remained unmoved, stretching out his foot to step on Pangzi's right elbow, pinching his forearm and forcefully folding it back, producing a crisp cracking sound. The arm then hung down at an unbelievable angle.

  This time, Fatty didn't howl again; he directly fainted.

  "Take the money to the municipal hospital emergency room to see my dad, otherwise I'll break your husband's other arm and leg." Liu Ziguang threw a sentence at the fierce woman in the house who was scared into silence, turned around and left.

  Half a day later, the fatty slowly woke up. The sound of ambulances outside was getting closer and closer. His wife knelt beside him, crying: "Husband, call the police."

  "It's too cheap for him to just report it, call Qiangzi, quickly." Pangzi said weakly.